*This information is being released in coordination with the Speedway Police Department.

Indianapolis – Shortly after 1 p.m. today officers from the Speedway Police Department received information of a possible wanted subject, 57 year old Douglas Gaultney of Knox County Indiana, in a white van in the area of 18th and MacArthur Lane, in Speedway. Officers were able to locate and make contact with Gaultney, who was the sole occupant of the van. Gaultney immediately brandished a shotgun causing the officers to move to a safe position and call for additional help. Gaultney was making statements that led police to believe he did not have intentions of exiting the vehicle.

The Speedway Police Department SWAT team, along with the Indiana State Police SWAT team and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department all responded to the scene. Officers attempted to negotiate with Gaultney for several hours. Gaultney exited the van at one point with the shotgun in his hands but immediately re-entered the van.

Shortly before 7 p.m. members of the Indiana State Police SWAT team and the Speedway Police SWAT team attempted less lethal tactics of tear gas and use of an armored state police vehicle to encourage Gaultney to peacefully surrender. However, Gaultney chose to get out of the van armed with a shotgun that he pointed at officers. This action resulted in several police officers shooting Gaultney who then fell to the ground. Life saving measures were immediately initiated by police officers until medics, who were staged nearby, were able to provide direct first-aid to Gaultney. Gaultney was then transported to Eskenazi Hospital in critical condition and at the writing of this release was in surgery.

No police officers or other citizens were injured during this police action shooting. Crime Scene Investigators are currently on the scene collecting and preserving evidence, as well as investigators from the Indiana State Police and Speedway Police Department.

Douglas Gaultney was wanted out of Knox County on violation of probation for possession of marijuana.

This is an ongoing investigation and there is no further information available at this time.

The Speedway Police Department encourages you to call if you feel something is suspicious or potentially warrants their attention. They are more than happy to patrol any areas necessary to help identify or deter any potential dangers. If you feel something to be suspicious NEVER hesitate to call the department.

Speedway Police Department Citizens Academy….Week 4, SWAT

By Pauletta Dusterberg, Student in the 6th SPD Citizens Academy

Lt. Trent Theobald introduces the Speedway Police SWAT Team to Citizens Academy students

Did you know we have a SWAT Team? What is SWAT? Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) is a paramilitary unit that consist of 8 entry team members, 2 snipers and 2 negotiators. A lot of citizens don’t realize that our town even has a SWAT team, why? Because we have such a great police force that we don’t even realize what goes on while we sleep and go about our daily lives.

Speedway’s SWAT team was started in 1999 after an incident in town that brought about the knowledge that the town could use a special team for aggressive situations. The SWAT team also handles search warrants and drug enforcement in the town.

What does it take to be a SWAT team member? All members are required to take a physical exam, oral exam, and 24 hours of basic SWAT school training. That is just the basic of learning, more in depth training follows that. All team members train twice per month; and range time is a full day. They train in building entry, firearms, vehicular assault, down officer rescue, active shooter, other topics and physical fitness. So doesn’t sound too bad right? Try adding equipment that adds another 40 to 50 pounds on to your body weight. All training is done in full gear.

Sgt Mike Hart talked to the class about manual breaching. An entry team consist of a breacher, point man, shielder, entry less lethal and 4 entry members. Manual breaching can be done using – battering ram, break and rake – break window, clear out glass, and explosive breaching. All members of the SWAT team are cross trained for every position. The SWAT team uses various structures that the town purchased to do trainings. We watched videos of the Speedway SWAT team training at various structures that were bought by the town and slated for demolition, such as the recently closed Dollar Inn. Zores Towing is very nice to let the team use cars in their yard for training on vehic­­­­le entry.

Sgt. Mike Hart

Officer Matt Dahlke talked to the class about gas deployment / distraction device / less lethal ammunition. He discussed various ammunition used for direct and indirect fire, ranging from OC, CS, wood baton, stinger balls, aerosol grenades, bean bag rounds, and others. TV makes it appear that gas is used to penetrate houses. In reality, gas is not normally used in these situations.

Officer Matt Dahlke

Video of a flash bang explosive device being used to distract was shown to students. Distraction is a key to being able to proceed to the next step in controlling a situation. He discussed how a shield is used in situations to protect the team. Ballistic shield training is done to make the best use of the shields the team has. Each team member is issued their own equipment – ballistic vest, helmet, tourniquet and first aid kit and weapon systems – block 22, 12 gauge shotgun, automatic AR-15. Members keep all their equipment in their vehicles ready for deployment when called. The team aims for a 30 minute response time to get to any situation they are needed. They are all on call 24 hours a day/7 days a week, with time off for vacations. The team works from a set of Standard Operating Procedures that the Department determines, Federal Regulations for certain areas of their duties, and follows State Certifications. Team members are required to be recertified each year by the team instructor and they must be certified in firearms training also. So, these guys must have plenty of time to do nothing when they aren’t handling SWAT situations right? NO, they are all members of our police force and have a regular shift they work daily. They are like superman, they must change clothes on the run to a SWAT situation. So, I am still looking for that phone booth (some from class will get my joke here).

Sgt. Mike Hart explains the various gear worn by the SWAT team member Det. Chris Ristuccia

Students had lots of great questions on specifics of the equipment and procedures, fostering excellent discussion and a better understanding of what actually occurs. Next week: Emergency Vehicle Operations, classroom instruction. CAN’T WAIT.

Wednesday marked the halfway point for the current Speedway Police Citizens Academy class. For the first part of tonight’s class, students learned about the Speedway Police Department SWAT team from several members, including Sgt. Robert Dine, Det. Chris Ristuccia, Officer Matt Dahlke, Sgt. Mike Hart, Officer Nathan Shipley, Officer Ben Rupenthal, and Officer Pat Hammel. The SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team is trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside the abilities of regular officers. Duties include hostage rescues, counter terrorism operations, serving high risk arrest and search warrants, subduing barricaded subjects, and engaging in heavily armed criminals.

They discussed the requirements and process that officers must go through to become eligible to be on the SWAT team, as well as the continuing training sessions they take part in, including firearms, building entries & searches, active shooter, and officer down rescue.

They displayed many of the specialized equipment used by the team, including firearms, submachine guns and assault rifles, stun grenades and riot control agents as well as body armor, ballistic shields, entry tools, optics, etc.
They discussed with students how they assess various situations and intel regarding the physical environment, people involved, etc. to determine how to best respond to and resolve an active situation.
During the next part of the class, Officer Mat Turpin taught students about the police department’s K-9 Unit. He started with a history of work dogs, focusing on law enforcement, detailing which breeds are typically utilized, including German shepherd, Belgian malinois, Dutch Labrador, Blood hound and Collies. Each breed is used for various purposes depending upon the dog’s characteristics. Strong positive characteristics are ball drive, hunt drive, prey drive and food. Negative characteristics are environmental (dogs that don’t like to be in certain situations or even like certain texture floors, etc.), too social, lacking in drive, or sound issues (dogs must be able to deal with gunfire).

Most law enforcement dogs are purchased from European breeders, whose dogs from have good characteristics. Law enforcement training is done in the US, and the handler and the K9 go through various levels of training, depending upon the intended purpose – patrol school is 8 weeks, narcotics school is 2 weeks, etc. K9s can be multipurpose, dual, or single purpose. Various law enforcement purposes for K9s include:

Patrol

Narcotics

Explosives

Cadaver

Money

Officer Turpin then brought in K9 Officer Tom to meet the class, but he was far more interested in chewing on his plastic toy ball than he was with us!

Next week, Citizens Academy students will be learning about crime scene investigations and the following week will have a chance to try out their new skills in a simulated crime scene! Stay tuned!!

Slideshow of all photos from the Speedway Citizens Academy class: SWAT / K9